North Korea has fired ballistic missiles into waters off its east coast, authorities in South Korea and Japan said.
According to a statement from South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, several unidentified ballistic missiles were fired from the Sinpo area of North Korea at around 6:10 a.m. local time on Sunday.
“While strengthening surveillance and maintaining heightened readiness for further launches, South Korea, the US and Japan are closely sharing information and maintaining full readiness,” it said.
Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said during a visit to Australia that the ministry was gathering and analyzing information while maintaining a high level of vigilance.
The missiles are believed to have landed near the east coast of the Korean peninsula, with no impact confirmed on Japanese territory or in the exclusive economic zone, its defense ministry said. No damage to aircraft or vessels in the area was immediately reported.
Pyongyang last fired several short-range ballistic missiles toward waters off its east coast on April 8.
The latest launch comes as the war in Iran drags on, raising security concerns in East Asia as the US shifts its focus to the Middle East.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is deepening strategic ties with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and continuing to coordinate closely with China, underscoring the growing alliance between the three nations against the US-led security order.
In recent months, Kim unveiled the Hwasong-20, an intercontinental ballistic missile designed to reach the US mainland. He ordered the modernization of his country’s missile and artillery production, signaling a push to expand both nuclear and conventional weapons.
In its latest annual threat assessment report, US intelligence agencies said North Korea had “successfully test-fired” intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of hitting the entire US mainland and gained “valuable military experience and military technology from Russia to participate in combat operations against Ukraine.”
Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said this month that the agency had seen a “very serious increase” in North Korea’s nuclear power capacity.
While President Lee Jae Myung has sought to ease tensions with Pyongyang, North Korea has largely dismissed his outreach, saying Seoul remains hostile.
When President Donald Trump visited the region for EC meetings in late October, he said he was open to meeting Kim if the timing could be agreed upon.
North Korea’s Sunday launches and continued development of new missiles underscore the threat it poses to its neighbors amid concerns about Pyongyang’s security cooperation with Russia. Kim said days after Trump’s inauguration that confrontation with hostile nations was “inevitable” when he visited a factory and laboratory producing nuclear materials for weapons.
Many of the missiles tested in recent years have come from the group known as the Hwasong-11, a family of short-range ballistic missiles that can carry large payloads, including nuclear warheads. The US and South Korea have accused Kim of sending dozens of missiles of this type to Russia to help Putin in his war effort.
In return, Russia sent aid that boosted North Korea’s economy and helped Kim advance his weapons programs, Seoul and Washington said.
With the help of Takashi Hirokawa, Keiko Ujikane and Se Young Lee.
This article was generated from an automated news agency source without text modification.
